MANCHESTER-based child care company the National Teaching and Advisory Service (NTAS) is to take on up to 10 more staff as part of its ongoing national expansion.

Three of the posts to be filled are at its Greenheys headquarters, with a further one each at its regional offices in Kent, Newbury, Liverpool, Romford and a new office soon to be opened in Hull.

NTAS is a national education organisation working with looked-after children and children in care.

With 95 staff nationwide, it employs teams of teachers and social workers to work with education providers to help children re-enter the mainstream education system.

It also provides training to teachers and social workers and consultancy and strategic advice on the provision of appropriate care for children.

Tim Walker, chief executive of NTAS, said: "We bring together the worlds of social work and education.

"There are all sorts of children in our society who don't do well at school or who get excluded from school, and it's usually due to other circumstances in their lives, such as abuse.

"Rather than regarding them as yobs or young offenders, who should be kept away from other children, we try and bridge the gaps and resolve the issues for all parties, providing the children with a chance that has usually been denied them previously by other people."

NTAS was established in Manchester 1998 by three teachers and a social worker.

It now has 13 regional offices.

Its fourteenth office, in Hull, is due to open in April.

It is also looking to expand into Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Tim said: "We've just signed a contract in Hull with an independent child care provider called Kindercare.

"They have a development plan that will see them opening up in various parts of the UK and we will be working in partnership with them throughout the country.

"Hull is the start of that partnership."

With a turnover of £4.5 m, NTAS also has contract with around 15 local authorities in the north west - the two largest being Trafford and Liverpool.